In a statement, NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said: "It is our supreme pleasure to broadcast - live - a new version of the seminal Broadway musical The Sound of Music for a whole new generation.

"There used to be a tradition of broadcasting musicals live back in the 1950s and we're thrilled to do it once again with a musical that has been a family classic for five decades."

The Sound of Music is perhaps best known for the 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. However, NBC has said that the new production will have no ties to the popular movie.

"What we want to do, instead, is to give audiences a completely fresh experience of this great Tony Award-winning stage musical in the form of a classic television event, combined with the spontaneity of a live performance," explained producer Craig Zadan.

An air date for the upcoming broadcast has not yet been set, but casting for the upcoming show has begun.